Three In Custody After Homicide in Pottsville

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POTTSVILLE -- UPDATE: 11 a.m.

Three people are now in custody after a homicide in Schuylkill County Tuesday night.

Authorities say the deadly shooting in Pottsville left Elijah Caraway, 19, dead. They say it all started as a fight between the victim and several others along the 400 block of Laurel Boulevard. Investigators say an argument over drugs led to gunfire around 9 p.m. Tuesday.

"It sounded like bottle rockets," said neighbor John Farley.

"Next thing cops were here and someone got killed," said neighbor John Steckler.

More than 10 hours after Caraway was killed, police remained on the scene collecting evidence. Neighbors and even people who knew the victim came out to see the site for themselves.

That included a friend of Carraway who wrote his name on her hand. She asked not to be identified.

"All I know, there was a fight that happened and supposedly it led to this."

According to investigators, this is the first homicide to hit Pottsville in more than a year and a half. The last one took place in November of 2011 and it happened around the same area as Tuesday night's homicide, the same neighborhood as the Schuylkill County Courthouse and just blocks from the police station.

"Whoever did it got guts," Steckler added.

"It's unbelievable," said Jimmy Sporz.

"It's scary to think you could be walking down the street or your kids and you could be right in the middle of that," said Charlene Cougle.

As for how police tracked down the three suspects, officers used information sharing technology to quickly to find the getaway car. That led them to Philadelphia where the arrested two brothers Anthony Ballard, 26, and Dustin Ballard, 24.

Cops are trying to figure out which one pulled the trigger. A woman, Jamiee Watson, is also with police. Investigators think she's the one who drove the car. Arrangements are being made to bring the three back to Pottsville but there is no word yet when they'll be back.